Broken Sanity
by Suspense Master
Summary: For Keitaro Urashima, tragedy strikes for him and the event breaks his sanity, unleashing his hate and now wants the world to suffer for what happened.
1. Chapter 1

Black Waltz: First, I'd like to thank Grey Wolf, an acquaintance of mine on Yahoo Messenger who helped me clean up the rest that this story is in, so please enjoy. Lastly, when it comes to medical science, that's where my weakness is... I have my reasons.

* * *

A beautiful day like this was just perfect. But for Keitaro Urashima, manager of Hinata Sou, nothing was ever perfect for his life... it was always hell. Nothing was ever good in his life, and the only one who ever understood and showed him love was Haruka Urashima, his aunt. Even though she would hit him for him calling her 'Aunt', he forgave her as did she... it was nothing like those demons in that building.

And speaking of building, inside it was nothing but trouble. Always, the poor man always beaten for no apparent reason and he never had a chance to explain himself. For him, whenever he was launched into orbit, Haruka would always go out after him and the two would drive back home to the Hinata Sou.

He would do his work as the manager, doing chores, but those girls never did anything, not even lifted a finger to help him. When he did his chores, when the girls were outside bathing in the hot spring, Motoko and Naru would do the same thing to him again.

Even for his friends, Haitani and Shirai, those guys wouldn't stand up for him

But this one day...

This one day would be a terrible fate.

Again, Keitaro was trying to get some work done, cleaning the windows on the Hinata Sou, but somehow while cleaning, the rope came loose and he fell down and hit the ground, landing right on top of Shinobu, and for Keitaro, well, when the girls found him, let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Urashima, how dare you try to take advantage of a woman, vile male!"

"Keitaro, you sick pervert!"

And just like that, both girls launched their attacks on the poor man, propelling out of the hot spring and into the sky. In her teashop, Haruka was doing her work, when she heard a scream outside. Looking outside and into the sky, she saw her nephew flying like an airplane. Getting in her car, she started it up and chased after him, in hopes of bringing him back. She knew he could handle anything, but let's see how he handles chemicals and fire.

"Hang on, Keitaro... help is on the way."

Driving when there were no other cars was a good thing, especially when you have a man who had just been launched into the sky by two girls; Haruka was thankful there was nobody else. For her sake, Keitaro was sure to make it out okay, he was the only family she had and wanted to know more about him; he was her favorite nephew.

As Keitaro felt himself descend down from the sky, he saw an old factory. Rumors of it being closed down because of bad things happening there when it had workers there; there were a lot of dangerous chemicals as well as electrical problems, resulting in the closure of the place, leaving it abandoned for years, which nobody goes into it.

In this case, it won't be abandoned. Keitaro crashed through the roof, landing in a vat of chemicals, but also causing them to splash all over the place. "Oh, no," he said himself, feeling in a bad situation. A loose cable sparked and then came undone, landing in a puddle of the chemicals, igniting them.

Looking around, he saw the wire continue to move, showing sparks in different directions as well as other wires coming undone, joining along. Fire spread quickly through the place as Keitaro moved quickly, shedding his jacket to the floor so as not to be set on fire. Outside the place, a car drove up, seeing the smoke on the inside as well as the noise of movement... Haruka knew that Keitaro was in there.

Inside the factory, the whole place was a blazing inferno as the ceiling began to fall apart as well as the machinery, chains, barrels, and lockers. Keitaro was in a jam; then he felt dust on his hair lightly fall from the ceiling. Looking up, he saw the debris fall from above, trapping him underneath its heavy weight.

The intense head of the rock, iron steel and dirt began to burn away at his back, lightening the chemicals on his shirt. The fire traveled across the room, now spreading on some large gas canisters.

At the window, he saw Haruka. "Haruka, you have to save me, please! Please, help me!" he cried at her, but it was no good. As much as she wanted to do something, she couldn't because of the rust on the window locks and as well as on the doors foiled her attempt to enter. Inside, there was a small explosion as Haruka knew what was about to happen.

Shedding tears from her eyes, Keitaro saw them... the fire was getting ready to do its thing as more of building began to burn and saw the flames approach what looked like gas or chemical tanks. Looking into her tear-stricken eyes, he shouted his final words, "It's going to blow up, Haruka! Get away, Haruka! Run for it!!!"

Then, the explosion came... big enough to start a chain reaction in the factory, taking him with it. Haruka could only watch in horror as her nephew perished in the fire. The elder Urashima ran back to the car as the fire broke out of the windows and set the tall grass around it ablaze, too. Before heading back into the car, she looked back at the burning building and remembered Keitaros' words to her.

Driving back home was hard for her, as she began crying along the way, but she had to let it out after what she just experienced back there. Damn, why didn't she help him? "Why" she asked herself as she came back to Hinata Sou.

Shutting off the car and going back into the teashop, she said to herself, "I will never forget what happen, nor will I ever forget about you, Keitaro... I promise."

* * *

Black Waltz: Well, how was that? I will continue with it later on. Review, please!

Peace out!


	2. Chapter 2

Death is something that can stay with a person for a while and then it goes away, but not in this case. For Haruka, after she had witnessed the death of her nephew, she promised herself she would never forget it, and like Keitaro, she would make good on her promise. After going back to the teashop, her mind and body were in a state of silence.

Walking to the counter, she laid her head down; then her body moved as she wept. After crying for a few minutes, she pulled out her photo album and opened it. Flipping through it, she saw different memories of Keitaro's family, including Moé. She went further along in the album, seeing the photo of all the girls, plus Keitaro and Moé.

Moe...

She was the only one who showed her nephew love and kindness, something that those demons never showed him. Wait... those girls, they were the reason her Keitaro is now gone! Tearing out the photo, she took an object from the counter and stabbed it onto the picture then raised the weapon and continued at it.

Feeling her anger empty away, she threw the object to the floor. Looking up at the roof of the teashop, she said, "Keitaro, if you can hear me, I'm sorry for all the things I made you go through. I knew I should have done something about those girls, but don't you worry, I will take care of them for you... I promise."

The next day, the girls were doing their usual thing around Hinata Sou, but one of the girls knew something was wrong. Shinobu looked and saw Haruka sweeping the porch outside, a blank expression on her, almost as if she was in another world. The little cook had asked her if Keitaro had come home last night but Haruka said nothing to her, and continued to do her work. Both Naru and Motoko complained to her that Keitaro was supposed to clean the hot spring, and Kitsune said she didn't have any money for drinking.

Like with Shinobu, she was silent... with a blank expression. Two weeks had passed and Haruka had still not had said a word; she even refused to eat, avoided the girls, was sighing a lot... her symptoms were getting worse.

The girls didn't know what she was going through but they were worried because of her things that she was doing to herself. Haruka didn't care. To her, Keitaro was very important to her, but his life had ended in a flash. Sitting alone in her teashop, looking at the photo of Keitaro with his grandfather, she said, "I'm sorry, Keitaro... for everything. I don't even deserve to call myself a family member to you, I'm just a stranger. I hit you when you called me 'Aunt'; I let the girls abuse you while I did nothing but watch. WHY? Why can't I turn back the clock and make things better for you?" she screamed to herself.

For Haruka, she never got to know her nephew better, and with his life gone, she never will. Drowning herself, she wallowed in the waters of sins. Getting out of the phases is a hard thing to do. You make it out, or you stay locked up in for life. You control your limits when in grief of a loved one.

* * *

Next day was the same, well, almost the same. The girls decided if Keitaro wasn't coming back that they'd put an ad in the paper for a new manager. At that moment, Haruka came into the kitchen. "What're you girls doing?" she asked.

"We're putting an ad in the paper for a new manager," Naru said. "If Keitaro isn't coming back, why bother waiting for him?"

Haruka went up and grabbed the phone, ripping the cord from the wall and threw the phone to the wall. She looked at the girls. "No, you're not. From now on, I'm your new manager."

"But Haruka, what about your teashop?" asked Shinobu.

"I can manage two things are one time."

"Haruka..." Kitsune started.

"SHUT UP!!!" she roared. The girls all tensed up at this. If Keitaro were here right now, he could see the look on their faces. _'This is for you, __Keitaro__,' _she thought to herself. "From now on, you worked my nephew to the bone, you beat him, and you stole from him and tortured him, but now that's going to change. You girls, especially you, you lazy sloth," she said, referring to Kitsune, "will do his chores and duties from now on!" Seeing Shinobu tear up, she calmed the petite chef down and told her to go to her room.

When Shinobu was out of sight, Haruka turned her gaze back on them. "You tortured my nephew from day one when he was here. Starting tomorrow, I expect you girls to be dressed and ready to work, understand?!"

They nodded and she left the apartments, going back to her tea shop. For the girls, tomorrow was a workday for them, including the lazy sloth and they weren't ready to do this, but they either do it or face Harukas' temper, one or the other. After a silent dinner, the group retired to their rooms, where they slept. In her teashop, Haruka tried to sleep, but was unable to do so; she tossed and turned, crying to herself till she cried herself to sleep.

She had a nightmare. Haruaka was in the blazing building... the one that Keitaro died in. Then, she saw him... walking up to her while on fire!

Haruka was motionless while his blazing body went towards her. "Why didn't you do something about the girls, Haruka? Why didn't you defend me like a real family member should have? Why wouldn't you let me escape from the chaos of Hinata Apartments?"

The elder Urashima said nothing as he got close her and wrapped her in a hug, her own body beginning to burn as she screamed in agony; her skin melting away. Haruka shot up from her bed, hyperventilating while a cold sweat cascaded down her face. She looked at her skin, seeing it normal and not melting as well as the rest of her body.

She put her hands to her face and cried, groaning sadly, hoping that this pain would go away... but it won't. It never will. Haruka got up for a minute and left her and returned with the picture of Keitaro and Keitaros' grandfather in an album and set it on her nightstand so she could greet him in the morning.

"Goodnight, nephew," she said, kissing his head and got back into bed. Hopefully, that nightmare wouldn't resurface again.

* * *

The next morning, Haruka woke up all the girls and told them to get work doing their chores. So they did, but Kitsune had to bring along her mystic potion, aka her sake. Haruka wasn't going to have any of that... Grabbing the bottle, she said to Kitsune, "Does the sloth want a drink?"

Kitsune nodded, but felt herself ashamed at what Haruka was calling her. Rearing her arm back, the elder Urashima smashed the bottle across the Foxs' mouth, her body going to the ground. The girls looked at her. "Haruka, what in Kamis' name has gotten into you?" asked Motoko.

"SHUT UP AND GET TO WORK, DEMON!!!" Haruka yelled at her; then looked down and kicked Kitsune in the gut. "You, too, sloth, move it!" She landed a kick at her face then picked her up and threw her into the spring. Haruka looked back at the others and said to them in an icy tone, "There will be no breaks until this entire place is in good condition, got it?"

They nodded... Haruka turned to Shinobu and softened. "It's okay, Shinobu, don't cry. You go ahead and do what you have to do inside, okay?"

The small chef nodded and went inside, knowing that Haruka wasn't going to treat her like she did to the others. Kitsune, all wet and mouth still dripping with blood, pulled herself out of the hot spring and got to work cleaning it, as did the girls with their chores.

All of them had one thing on their minds... why was Haruka acting so cruel all of the sudden? Was it because Keitaro told her to? Whatever the reason, they'll know for sure why. But Haruka was determined to let them know the truth... including Sarah. Speaking of her, Seta was getting ready to head of for an expedition and needed her to stay at Hinata while he was away... a perfect way for Haruka to tell all of them, but she knew Shinobu would take it hard.

That child loved her nephew more than anything. She wasn't like the others, but they were mean to her as well... only Naru and Motoko, none of the others were. Haruka looked up at sky outside of the building...

She heard a voice, in her head...

_'Kill them, __Haruka__... kill them.'

* * *

_

Black Waltz: How was that for a second chapter, nice and dark, I hope. Sorry if I haven't been updating lately, I been too lazy. Gomen nasai.

Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Black Waltz: Hello. I have returned with yet another chapter for my story. Keitaro... he's one of my favorite characters and I have great sympathy for the guy, and he deserves revenge for all that shit those girls put him through, am I right, people?

* * *

Weeks had passed and the girls were still going through chores with Haruka still watching over them like a hawk. If they did not do their chores, they were beaten, even Sarah or Su, but Haruka saw no regret in doing it, they deserved it... they deserved all the shit that they had done to her nephew. After seeing him being burned alive in that factory, her hatred was cemented on those girls for life because of his death! "Move it, Narusegawa!" she kicked her in the gut. "Move faster!"

So Naru moved as much as her legs could stress. Meanwhile, at the ruined site of the chemical factory, police were all over the place, keeping it blocked off from the public with the police tape while they searched the building for any kind of evidence that was there. Investigators turned up some evidence, but it wasn't much... all that was there was some hair, a pair of glasses, and a burnt piece of clothing from what appeared to be a shirt. "What do you think, sir?" asked the lieutenant.

"Don't know. I mean, if there was a fire here, it would have been set off by some kids who were goofing off, but this to me would have to be manslaughter, based on the evidence we've collected."

"But sir, if this was manslaughter, then we would have also found the body as well."

That was true, while they were searching the premises for forensic evidence, the team didn't find a trance of a body in the building. "That's true. Hopefully, it can't be too far away. I want a clean sweep of this entire building, understand?"

"Yes sir."

After collecting the evidence, they searched the entire precinct for the body, but didn't find anything. With the material that they had, investigators rushed the hair and clothing to be studied by the forensic scientists at the lab. All that was needed was time, considering that getting a DNA test result would take some time. Back at Hinata House, Haruka threw Kaolla across the room, telling her straight to stop with her stupid experiments or else she'd be put out on the street. Night came and the girls were tired, sore, bruised and hungry.

Shinobu cooked all of them a nice dinner and they ate while Haruka was busy closing up her teashop for the night. When they were done, the girls all went to their own. Naru was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth; while she was brushing, she kept on thinking why Haruka was like this now? It had been four days and Keitaro _still _hadn't returned, so maybe that's the reason why she's been acting like this... that had to be.

Finished brushing her teeth, she bent down to spit out the toothpaste and turned the water on and rinsed her mouth and spit; she came back up... and saw a figure, but she couldn't see the person clearly through the darkness. All she could see was the person holding a fire ax... Naru spun around, hoping to confront person, but she was met with nothing. Puzzled, she ignored the strange occurrence and went to bed. "Who was that?" she asked herself

With the question still in her mind, she slept, hoping to forget about what had happened.

The morning sun rose over the city, casting its rays through the sky. For each of the girls, they slept peaceful, but the peace was interrupted by Haruka, who barged into Naru, Motoko, Kitsune, Su, and Sarahs' room, dragging them out and throwing him to the floor. "Haruka, it's five-thirty in the morning," Sarah whined.

"Quit your baby-ass whining and get to work."

"Haruka-san," Motoko said, "it's too early for us to work, and we need sleep."

Haruka only stared at her. "I though you'd say something like that, you Rurouni Kenshin wannabe." She grabbed Motoko by her collar and dragged her off, with the others wondering where she was taking her. Soon, they heard screams and sounds of an object striking something, and then Haruka returned, letting Motoko drop to the floor. A baseball bat was in her hands, covered in blood. "Anybody else needs some motivation?" she asked.

They quickly complied, shaking their heads and scurried away to get started on their chores

As Haruka watched them go, she went through the hallways, going to his room... the place of her once alive nephew. That nightmare that she had about three days ago still haunted her; she couldn't get it out of her head. Since it had happened, she was afraid to sleep at night, and even take a nap during the daytime.

Shinobu did her chores in the kitchen, thinking about why Keitaro hadn't returned back home. "He hates us," she said to herself, "We're the reason he hasn't come back, because we don't give him love or kindness... I do though; I'm not like the others."

"Of course you're not, Shinobu," said a voice.

The little chef spun around to see Haruka, but instead of a hated looked in her eyes, they were soft and caring. "Keitaro saw you as a great person, as did I. You were the only one who never treated him like trash in the beginning, and that's why he liked you very much."

Shinobu blushed at this while Haruka left the small girl alone. The others were busy doing their chores, trying their hardest not to pass out, but for some it was tough... like Su or Sarah. The bronze girl fell to the stone floor while Haruka just carried her inside and let her fall to the floor. Meanwhile at police headquarters, forensic scientists were able to get a DNA result from the hair that investigators collected at the crime scene.

The DNA from the hair had belonged to a man named Keitaro Urashima. Police did a background check on him and found out that he was a student at a cram school, that he had a sister and a mother and a father. They were able to point out the address and went straight to his family to tell them the news, taking the charred remains of his glasses as proof that he was no longer alive.

At the Urashima household, the family was doing their usual family routine, but for Kanako, she was worried... she hadn't heard from her big brother for days and it was beginning to eat at her heart. Maybe he was hurt, maybe he was in trouble. Whatever happened, the answer came knocking on the door. Two men stood outside as she opened the door, her mom and dad looking behind her. "Can I help you?" she asked.

The men showed them their badges. "Detective Suboru Narutaki," one of them said. The other man showed his badge also, saying, "Detective Akiro Katakura, Japan Police Division."

"Can I help you with something?"

Akiro nodded. "We'd like to speak to your parents about an urgent matter that has come up, it's also important that you partake in this as well."

Kanako nodded solemnly, knowing something was wrong for authorities to come to her brother's house. Both men came inside as Kanako closed the door and seated them in the kitchen, leaving them alone to get her parents. She returned with them while the two adults bombarded the two detectives with questions, but they quieted them down and told all three of them to sit. "Around eleven-forty-five A.M., one of our officers had responded to a fire, which turned out to be the old abandoned factory on Matsuko Street. Firemen then cleaned up the mess and we went inside and looked around for what happened inside."

He put some photographs on the table and Keitaro's mother looked at them as did her husband, seeing the clues that they had gotten. "We also found hair, a pair of glasses and a piece of burnt clothing at the scene. We did DNA testing on the hair and found out who it had belonged to."

"Who was it, detective?"

"I am sorry to say this, sir, but the hair belonged to your son, Keitaro Urashima," he spoke grimly. Just like that, silence enveloped the room as his sister cried out, saying it wasn't true, but Narutaki pulled out the bag containing his glasses and set them on the table. Keitaro's sister took the glasses and held them to her chest, crying her heart out as the wife joined them. "Did you son know anybody else before his death?"

"His aunt Haruka Urashima," his father said, "He was also manager of Hinata Apartments when his grandmother went away on a trip, leaving him in charge of it."

"Arigato, Mr. Urashima," said Akiro. Taking the glasses back with them, they departed from the house, leaving the three to mourn in silence.

At Hinata House, Haruka had decided to let the girls rest for the time being. A knock came from the door; she answered it, seeing the two. "Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked.

"Haruka Urashima?" asked Akiro.

She nodded. "We'd like to discuss something very important with you, please tell the tenants also to be present, as this concerns them as well." So she did while the two went inside and sat in the kitchen like at the Urashima residence. For the girls, they were wondering what two men were doing her, but then they showed them their badges, they instantly became quiet. Just like before, the two explained to the girls about their manager's death, but for some of the girls, they didn't believe it, saying as he was invincible.

Saboru set the glasses down on the table and that's when the truth really hit them. "You say your manager is invincible, but he was in that fire, he wasn't invincible as you say he is." Shinobu saw them and her body shook; the girls couldn't believe he was really dead! Naru saw the small girl shaking and tried to comfort her, but she didn't want comfort.

"Get away from me, monster! All of you!" she screamed, referring to the other girls. "Are you happy now that he's gone?! Are you?! He was most kind man in the world, but you girls thought it would be fun to bully him! You always said he never belonged here, and you wished he was gone, well, you wish is granted! He's gone and he's never coming back, thanks to the likes of you!"

"Shinobu..." Motoko managed to say before Shinobu raced off in tears to her room to cry herself to sleep. The detectives heard the word abuse and decided to look into this, seeing as the girls were hiding something from others. "I am sorry for your loss, but maybe it will give you something think about your manager," said Saboru.

Soon, both men left as Haruka escorted them to the door, saying goodbye to them. When she retuned to girls, she said to them, "Well, girls, what do you have to say about that?"

And they said nothing. "That's what I thought. All of you get to bed right now."

They did, but then they wouldn't sleep well tonight or any other night.

* * *

Black Waltz: Another one finished. Now I can concentrate on other chapters in other stories that need updating. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

As the girls went back to their rooms, a piece of them felt gone. When they were given the news that Keitaro was really dead, they just couldn't believe it; they had always thought he could survive that, but he probably couldn't this time. Again, they also couldn't forget the words that Shinobu had said before she went off crying...

'_Are you glad he's gone now?! You always said he didn't belong here; well you got your wish!'_

_You got your wish!_

_Are you glad he's gone now?!_

These words continued to haunt the girls; she refused to come out of her room or even let the girls go inside to see how she was. Each of them only went to their rooms and instantly hit the floor, eyes like glass—clear and no emotion. This hit them hard like a building crashing down on them; they all wished for it to be a dream, to wish that it wasn't real and that he would come back, but nothing happened.

Each of them began to take a trip, a trip where each of them saw the torment that they had brought onto Keitaro... everything. Images flashed in front of their eyes, reminding them of the things that they had done; they felt remorse for it; they knew that they finally drove him to his death and he couldn't be brought back, no matter how badly they wanted to. Inside her room, Motoko looked at the suit of armor that was placed inside, a symbol of her "honesty" as a warrior.

She just gazed at it, and then looked down at her sword, which stood as another symbol for all the things she had done to Keitaro, inflicting pain, wrongful accusation, dishonest deeds, violent behavior... the list goes on. Motoko's hands clenched on the blade, applying so much pressure blood seeped out of her hands and down her arms. She didn't care about the pain because it was her own way of dealing with the things she had done... her, an honest warrior? No, she wasn't an honest warrior; she was a monster who always used her attacks on the innocent because she was clouded by anger.

"Keitaro... I... I... I'm sorry for my misjudgment on you. Shinobu has every right to be angry with me... no, us... because we did these things to you and they ultimately lead to your death," she said to herself.

Motoko walked over to her mirror and looked at herself, staring at the other her, the part of herself that always liked to hurt her manager. She looked at her hands... they were stained, filthy and impure with the violent acts she had committed. "My sister would scold me for my actions." She looked back at her reflection, "I'm a loser... a non-feminine loser."

The "honest" warrior decided to sleep it off, hoping that it would do her some good, to help take the pain away... hopefully. Getting dressed into her pajamas, she couldn't lift the weight from her shoulders as it was too heavy for her... too much guilt. But maybe tomorrow would be a brand new day for her, to start off new and try to be a better person; not just for herself but her sister as well as her family. Enveloping herself in her covers on the floor, she drifted off into slumber, but in the dark corners of a person's mind is where all the fears and nightmares come into play, and some believe that these dreams are messages to the person. Maybe her dreams would be a message, telling her to change her way or maybe otherwise. Whatever the reason, inside her dreamscape, things would be known.

She walked along a grassy field, seeing the overcast sky loom above her; she saw the figure that was her sister; her back facing her. "My dear Motoko, do you find it amusing to use our families' techniques to hurt one another, even when they have done no wrong?"

"No big sister, I am strictly with our code of honor."

Tsuruko chuckled at this which made Motoko puzzled. Why was she laughing? "You say you are with our code of honor, yet you use it to attack innocent people who have done no wrong to others..." She turned to face Motoko, she gasped... Tsuruko's eyes were pitch-black like that of the abyss of Jigoku and her voice was demonic like the devil, "like Keitaro Urashima."

Her eyes widened; her heart raced; her legs became weak. Her sister had known about what she had done to her manager! But how did she know!? "Big sister, please... I misjudged him for what he was. I thought he was just like other men, but I soon discovered he was not and came to accept him like everyone else did."

Tsuruko shook her head, "It is too late for that, little Motoko. Your ki is imperfect, I can see it. Everything that you have done to him in past with your sword is all plain in front of me. I cannot have a sister who doesn't act loyal to our code of honor... you have no honor!" Those four words went straight to the heart as everything that flashed in front of her repeated itself like a videotape set on play for an eternity.

Everything became too much for her to tolerate and she collapsed to her hands and knees, hot tears went down her cheeks as she wept, gasping from time to time. "Such a pitiful warrior you are, crying in front of me. Do you think your tears are going to make me have pity on you for what you have done to you manager, our family and me?"

Motoko looked up at her sister, whose face was cemented with a cold look with no pity for her younger sibling whatsoever—why would Tsuruko forgive her sister for something she has done to somebody who has done nothing wrong to her or others? "Your atonement has been decided, dear Motoko."

The ground erupted, cracking and splitting apart. From the depths of it emerged a dojo—her families' dojo. She felt more rumbling; she looked down, seeing a crack at her feet. Up from the ground, a wooden crucifix emerged; Motoko found herself suddenly bound by her arms and feet while her elder sister looked up at her. "You will now face atonement for your injustice!"

Twenty figures sprouted from the earth, each of them aiming their blades at Motoko whilst Tsuruko stood at them like a general with an army. "Now Motoko, you will feel pain just as you made Keitaro-san feel his!" From there the shrouds fired their attacks at her but unlike Keitaro, Motoko didn't have his invulnerability and the attacks were coming at her like a machine-gun torrent.

The younger sibling screamed as the blades sliced her flesh. This is what she felt... pain. The pain she had given to Keitaro. When the attacks were done, Motoko, face still streaked with tears, looked up at her sister's demonic facial features. "Please, forgive me, sister," she wept, her wounds seeping blood.

"Quiet you miserable failure! You will not cry... crying is for the weak! You will accept your punishment like a true warrior should always do!" Motoko's cries died down but she hiccupped constantly; she put her head down.

"Look at me... LOOK AT ME!"

Motoko shut her eyes. God, please make it go away... make it stop! What more did she have to take in order to be forgiven? It would only add to the pain of Keitaro's death and the assault her sister was giving her, but it was punishment... a loyal way for her to atone herself for what had happened.

"I SAID LOOK AT ME!" Tsuruko screamed, striking Motoko across the face to get her to pay attention. With her courage, of what was left, she looked at her sister and saw the black figures that represented the students of the school fade away, leaving the two alone on the wasteland. This time, Tsuruko drew her blade and pointed it to Motoko, close to coming into contact with her flesh... another blow to her body to make her pour more crimson regret.

"Now... it's time to say goodbye."

With one swing from her sword, Motoko's face froze in place; a line then formed on her neck as red seeped out and her head slid down from her torso and fell to the grass.

*

Motoko flew out of her futon in a cold sweat; hyperventilating so fast it was as if she was having a heart attack. She held onto her chest then felt her neck... it was alright, it was just a dream to her. But if it was a dream, why does she still cry? Why does she still fill the touch of the blade cutting into her neck? Everything swirled around Motoko in a vortex—the dream about her atonement, Keitaro's death, the scolding from her sister... it was too much!

Hot liquid built up in her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks as she fell onto her futon, curled up in a fetal position, and put her thumb in her mouth, sucking it... she was scared of everything. Her once proud toughness was now a shattered mirror, no way to rebuild it.

*

At the Tokyo Police, the two detectives were at a local bar to discuss matters about the manslaughter at the factory. The only question that went through their minds was, "Why would they want to do it? What was the motive?" From what they had gotten from the Urashima family was the lead that they needed. Kanako, Keitaro's sister, had told them that she had seen her brother being abused numerous times by the girls when he was manager—their hypothesis was right when one of the tenants said they were bullying him, but they would had never deduced it was this harsh. They had to stop and think... that little girl with the blue hair didn't look like the kind to hurt people.

"What would you say about the others?"

"I'm not sure, but I had a feeling that something was up when that little girl said that they were always bullying him."

"Do you think he would've called the police to take the girls away?"

"If he would've, it would have helped, but he never did. From what his mother told me, he was a good man with a good heart... she even said she was sorry for what had happened, throwing him out of the house and all, same with the father."

"I don't want to sound mean when I say this, but maybe his death is a blessing. He's not suffering and he'll be at peace."

"I know, but I still want those girls brought in for questioning ASAP."

His cohort nodded. Their first priority was to bring the girls in for questioning, they wanted to know if the girls knew did any physical to their manager—and if they were right, then they would be charged with manslaughter and assault. The body still wasn't found, and without it, they had no other evidence if he was abused by hand or with a deadly weapon.

*

The next morning at Hinata Sou was just like any other after hearing of Keitaro's death—the air was thick with sorrow and pain. Hopefully, breakfast would do the girls some good and little Shinobu seemed to be doing better than the other night, she was cooking and doing her other daily chores but her face didn't show anything... no happiness or joy, nothing. It was like her essence was sucked dry by a black parasite, leaving her dry and empty on the inside for maggots to fill her body to the brim to pour out of her mouth and explode out of her eyes and nose.

'Why did he have to go?' she thought to herself. She had loved him since the day she had known him, but she was too afraid to reveal her hidden feelings to him because she was afraid he might reject her. If she would have told him, they would get along so well together, unlike the way him and Naru when they were together.

If she had only said something then this kind of event wouldn't have conspired and she would tell him her real feelings and then she would be happy. But how the fuck could she feel happiness when it's been taken away by the devils that see him as a pathetic, peeping tom, weakling loser?

Her thoughts were halted when the girls all came in and sat down at the table, including Motoko who was holding a... teddy bear? Where did she get that and when did she start carrying one?

Motoko sat her teddy bear down first and then herself. "Mr. Twinkles would you like some breakfast?" she asked the teddy bear. This made the girls start to worry for the warrior's mentality and conscious. Kitsune had thought that Motoko had finally lost it when she heard about Keitaro's death—that was no surprise, they still couldn't shake it from their system. Did they really mean to be Keitaro's executioners, or did they even try to stop and think that they were taking things to far when it came to the torture?

"Motoko, are you feeling okay?" Naru asked.

Motoko only nodded, but the girls still had worry in them for their friend. Maybe a nice hot breakfast would be able to help them with their worry and discomfort. For someone else though, it was the complete opposite. Haruka held her head in her hands at the counter she was sitting at, trying to make the voices in her head go away. What did they want, and why wouldn't they leave her alone?

"_Do you want to show yourself that you care about him?"_

"_But what can I do about it?"_

"_The only thing you can do that would satisfy the both you of... kill them."_

She was about to protest to her thoughts when another voice joined in on her mind—one that she easily recognized. _"What kind of family are you?" _Haruka had expected to see Keitaro again, but found her eyes meeting herself. "What kind a person are you to not do anything about your nephew? You're supposed to be there for him like other people are always there for one another!"

"I... I'm sorry! What more do you want from me?!"

"Remove the ones who are responsible for his death... this will show you that you care about him. Are you willing to do this and ask him to forgive you?"

Haruka looked at her hands... could she really do it? If she had a choice, she wouldn't have. But in this case, she had just witnessed her nephew's body go up in flames at that factory and knowing him, he would want him to take care of the girls for him. She clenched her fist then slammed them on the table; they shook. All she had to do was come up with a decision... she had made her choice as of now.

*

A lone police unit was on routine patrol around eleven fifty-nine, driving down the lone road making sure that everything was serene. Some of it was when something bright caught his eye coming down the riverbank. He looked with curiosity; stopped the car and got out with his gun drawn, not knowing what to expect. The officer got to the shore line as whatever was in the water got near to him; the current carried to around like a doll before the thing came to the bank.

This wasn't good. The officer immediately radioed for an ambulance to his location while he gave a description about what he had found. Soon, paramedics arrived and doused the flames and loaded the body up onto stretcher and drove off to the nearest emergency room—if there was a chance the person was still alive then they had to move fast before their heart would give out.

"Is this how you found the person?" asked one of the paramedics.

"Most of it... it looks like most of the skin is gone, as well as the vocal chords judging by the large cut on the throat."

They hustled it inside the building as soon as the van parked at the entrance and doctors all rushed to hopefully save this person's like. The officer was able to tell his bosses about what he had found and the word leaked quickly through the station; both Akiro and Saboru got word of what the officer had found. "You think it might be the body?" asked Saboru.

"From the description, I would have to say yes," said Akiro, setting down his cup of coffee.

The two went to the hospital to tell the doctors who the man was. As they drove, inside the hospital, surgeons had removed his vocal chords and sewed up the wound... it was a tragedy, knowing that the man, if he was still alive, would never be able to speak again. Facial reconstruction and skin grafting was impossible, judging by how deep the burns on his face were made, possible by a chemical.

When detectives arrived, they gave the doctors everything that they had known from the crime scene on who the victim was. "Judging by his face, I would have to say that sulfuric acid would be the possible one."

"That would explain the chemical spills we found," said Akiro.

"Is there a chance he could be alive?" asked Saboru.

The lead surgeon shook his head. "It's more unlikely someone would still be alive after being burned in a fire."

Maybe so, both detectives thought together. After some time giving the doctors the information on Keitaro, they had left. One of the surgeons came out, "We've finished cleaning up the wound. Where do you want to move him?"

"Take him to room one thirty-eight but keep watch on him at all times. Even if he's dead, I want you to treat him like he's a normal patient."

"Yes sir."

So four nurses moved the stretcher to the room and set up and IV and left him with the dim light on. One of the nurses looked and him and couldn't help but say this, "I hope you're okay, Keitaro."

*

Black Waltz: Finished, finally! I had a hard time bringing this thing to a close and had writers block for quite some time. Anyway, I hope the chapter was good enough for you guys to use your imagination, and expect more from me soon.

Later.


	5. Chapter 5

The wind howled during the dead night as the droplets of rain poured down like a showerhead on full power. Many of doctors were tending to other patients, some who had neck injuries, hip abrasions and surgeries but their problems couldn't compare to the one that they had heard about. Sure, a burn is something that can be taken cared of and healed but this burn was severe. Hours ago, when police had brought his body into the building, they wanted to know the extent of his injuries.

In the operating room, they laid Keitaro onto the table. "No respiration. Begin facial examinations and CPR to get his heart rate back to normal, and see if we can close up the wounds," said the lead surgeon.

"All the king's horses won't be able to put this guy back together," one of them joked.

"With the condition this guy's in, it's hard to know if he's got a pulse," said a female surgeon. She looked over at the beeping monitor—unresponsive. They had done surgery on both his head and face, saying that there was infection in his brain that needed to be taken care of. With the way they had done it, he wouldn't be able to feel any kind of pain ever again; his face was another story—skin scarred with deep burns, showing the muscle tissue of his face, nose melted like it was pressed down with a flat-iron, eyebrows gone, as well as his vocal chords removed due to infection.

Their guess was that when police told him he fell through the roof windows, a shard of glass or metal must have cut his throat open and some of the chemicals he landed in got inside the opening from the strains of toxins that they had seen on the inside. The operation took two and a half hours to remove the bits of glass from his face, eyes and head, and then stitched up the wounds on his throat and head.

Doctors picked him up and placed him back on the bed and rolled him to an adjacent room where they kept an eye on him, making sure his vital signs were still visible.

* * *

On another part of town, Tokyo police were interrogating the girls, Haruka, Keitaro's parents, and sister about what had happened to Keitaro to have his body being found in the riverbank, charred and still burning. Haruka had denied anything with her nephew; she said knew about the fire that happened, as well as the other things that had happened before his death. One of the tenants she pointed out was the resident chef, Shinobu, who was a witness to other forms of abuse that went on inside Hinata Sou.

The police called her in. She was holding a picture frame of Keitaro's photo, smiling and looking happy... something she said she always loved to see from her manager. After the accident, she kept it close because she was in denial of his death, saying that he was out on vacation and that he would be return; she was also afraid of the girls, saying that she had dreams of them taking him away from her and throwing him inside a tank filled with hungry sharks and she just watched as they gorged on him while they, minus Shinobu just laughed.

Shinobu put the blame on the girls, saying it was their fault he was gone out of their lives. "Shinobu, honey, tell me what went on inside that place before Keitaro's death."

"Naru and Motoko would hurt senpai with a sword or their bare hands whenever he walked into the hot spring, or walked into their room while changing... or whenever they saw him doing something bad with me."

"Did Keitaro ever assault you in any way?"

"No!" she blurted out, knowing full well that the man that she secretly had real feelings for would never hurt her in any way. "He was just clumsy and didn't mean what he did. But Naru and Motoko didn't listen to what he said; they just hurt him without thinking!"

"Why didn't you say something in his defense? It would have made them understand," said the interrogator, who was very intrigued by what he heard.

"I would have something," she wiped the tears from her eyes, "but they wouldn't believe me . . . they would have said that senpai forced me to say that he didn't do anything wrong. They're nothing but bullies to him, all of them!"

'_She must be referring to the others,'_ the woman thought to herself. "Honey, do you think that if Keitaro were to ever love you instead of Narusegawa, that things would be better for him?"

Shinobu was still in tears but was deep in thought. She always wanted for her senpai to have feelings for her like he did for Naru, but it would never happen . . . they had differences in age, but if she were a few years older and she were to tell him, then his life wouldn't be a complete train wreck.

The interrogation for the others continued; Kanako said that when her big brother came home, he wore cuts, scratches, burns, and bruises on his body—his parents were also concerned about this, but their son didn't want to tell them that the girls were causing the marks to him because if they found out, then the girls would be thrown out of Hinata Sou and wouldn't have any other place to go.

Kitsune confessed to police that she had conned Keitaro from his money for her own purposes. She said it was because she had a gambling and alcohol addiction and that she enjoyed playing pranks on other people—her friends called her a fox, which is what police saw of her.

"Did you ever think about getting a job to get money instead of taking it off of Keitaro?" asked one of the interrogators.

Kistune looked down at her fidgeting hands, unable to come up with an answer. True, she would have gotten a job just like any other person who desired to make money, but if she got a job, she know she would slack off and be fired the next day but then the process would repeat over and over till she mustered up the courage to get off her rear and do something to make money instead of bumming it off of strangers to use it for booze or gambling.

She stayed silent, feeling the interrogators gaze burned through her defenses like fire. The fox began to feel her defenses break down. "It was something I was always known to do when I was a kid. As I got older, I was always afraid of being an adult so I wanted to remain a kid for the rest of my life."

"Yet when you came to Hinata Sou, you found the perfect target, didn't you? You used sex as a means to get out of whatever predicament you were in, or to get what you wanted . . . isn't that right?"

Shrinking at the sight, she only shamelessly nodded her head. Police were disgusted by this woman, seeing as she used sexual advances to get whatever she wanted, like a child who always used a means of a tantrum to get what they wanted till they finally gave in to the child's demands. With the others, Su, even thought she had to be settled down first, was able to tell police that what she did to him with her inventions was a means of her way of having fun.

For Naru, she was told if she had feelings to Keitaro, which is what Shinobu had first told them about how she never once returned his feelings. "Why didn't you return his feelings? He loved you and you just beat him like a practice dummy."

Naru looked around and fidgeted with her skirt. "I was scared."

"What were you scared of? This guy practically gave you his own heart and you tore it up right in front of his eyes! What kind of person are you?"

"She's just like the others," said another detective

"No argument from me," he said.

All the girls were forced to wear a tracer on their leg, Haruka included, to keep an eye on them. Police tried to take the photo of Keitaro away from Shinobu but the poor girl wouldn't let go of it. Motoko had to restrain the girl and try to calm her down, but it got worse when that happened... the petite cook went berserk, crying to her eyes out while holding onto the frame as if her life depended on it. She didn't want to lose the one thing that reminded her of the one person she had real feelings for; Naru was also questioning herself about her feelings for Keitaro—all of them were, in fact.

When he first came to Hinata Sou, they thought he was just like other men but over time they saw he wasn't... he was just prone to accidents. With no common sense, they didn't know what he really did wrong now they put him to his death. Haruka on the other hand, didn't tell police about the voices she was hearing in her head. If she told them, they would surely put her up in the nuthouse, wearing a straightjacket, same for Shinobu.

Getting home, each of them did nothing but fall to the floor of the living room, dead on the inside with no movement. Night, however, brought a visitor to Haruka's teashop. Cleaning up the inside of the shop didn't help much on Haruka's mentality—she was still haunted by the voices of her sins. It hurt so much she just wanted to smash a cinderblock right on her skull to make it stop.

Haruka finished putting up the last of the chairs on the tables when a knock came to her door. She blinked in surprise. Who in God's name would be coming here at this time a night, she thought to herself, opening the door.

Again she blinked in surprise. "Shinobu?"

"Hi Haruka," the petite cook greeted smiling. "I couldn't sleep, I still keep thinking about Keitaro, about how he's still on vacation."

"He . . . He's still on vacation, yes, and he'll come back."

Poor thing was still in denial about Keitaro's death. Mostly everybody—Keitaro's parents, his sister, his friends Haitani and Shirai, and even Motoko and Su's sisters—was shocked by the news of his death when they said that cops found his body at the riverbank when that cop was patrolling the streets that night. Haruka brought the girl inside, set down one of the chairs and went to the kitchen to make her a cup of tea.

Shinobu sat down the chair while her thoughts still were on Keitaro; his smile, his kindness, the way he always looked happy and forgave the others when they hurt him for nothing he did, everything . . . and now it's no more.

No more smiles, no more kindness, no more of the things she loved. Her parents would ask her what was bothering her but all she did was run to her room and scream into her pillow, which deeply scared them on the inside; they would probably suggest she get counseling to whatever sort of problem she was having. They did try to talk with her but it did no help, she said that all she wanted was for the one person to come back to Hinata Sou so she could be able to tell him about how she felt. Her parents would ask who she was talking about, and she said one name—Keitaro Urashima.

Haruka came back to the table with her cup of tea for the girl and set it down in front of her, the aroma of the liquid filling into her senses. Grasping the cup with both hands, she took a small sip, the warm liquid traveling down her throat, and then she set her tea back and looked down at her hands, fidgeting. "Haruka . . . am I a bad person?"

Shocked by this sudden question made Haruka almost drop her cigarette from her mouth. "Why would you ask such a thing like that?"

"I want to know why he left. It's my fault he's gone, isn't it?"

Haruka shook her head, "It's not your fault . . . I should take part of the blame for sending him to his grave."

Hearing that word, Shinobu burst out, "He's not dead! He's just taking some time off and then he'll come back, I know it!"

Haruka sighed before gently grasping onto the cook's shoulders forcing her to look into her eyes. "Shinobu, listen to me . . . Keitaro is dead, I saw him burn alive with my own eyes! You have to accept the fact that he's gone . . . accept it!"

Tears in her eyes, she wailed. "No, no, no! Senpai's alive, he's not dead! He's not, he's not!" she said, beating on Haruka's chest with her tiny fists while she brought the girl into a hug to try and calm her down.

* * *

Kitsune paced back and forth around her room, the beeping of the tracer on her ankle still audible in her ears. After the questioning at the police station, she was starting to feel the consequences of what she had done to, not only Keitaro, but other people in the past. Turning her head she went to the full-length mirror in her room and stood in front of it, looking at the person before herself—a lazy, alcoholic, freeloading con artist.

"I hate you," she said to her reflection. Yes, she hated for what she had turned herself into. Every time she looked into the mirror, she liked who she was but now that Keitaro's death was finally revealed, that he wasn't always invulnerable even though as his tenants always said he was, she didn't like the person she turned out to be. But what could she do to make amends? There were thousands of people she pilfered money from and she could hardly remember their names or what they looked like.

She felt karma made her situation the way it was and she couldn't change it, no matter what she did. What could she do, drown herself in booze till her liver exploded like a house or kill herself by stabbing a sake bottle into her chest?

No . . . killing herself wasn't the answer.

The fox could do nothing but sulk and look at her bottles of sake that lay on the counter waiting for her lips.

Everything around her was a mess. She knew that everything was her fault and she had nobody to blame but herself. "Keitaro . . . I'm sorry," she said to nothing as she hoped that hearing her apology from the heavens would help ease both their pains. Looking at her bottles of booze, she felt anger at them like they were living people; all the men, sex, money, and gambling she had done were laughing at her. She could hear it ringing through her ears, she could see them pointing at her, she could feel them touching her skin, lifting up her shirt.

"Stop it!" she yelled, going up to her sake and grabbing the bottles one at a time, throwing them across the room, shattering them as the white liquid soaked the floor like rain. One after another, she dispensed all the pain by breaking the bottles one after another and when they were broken, she grabbed the pieces of glass and squeezed them in her hands, red liquid flowing down her arms but she ignored the pain.

This pain—it was how Keitaro had felt when she or the others took advantage of him, his kindness. "It feels good . . . oh so good. More, more! Oh God, I want more!"

She continued to squeeze the glass on the hands, letting the blood flow out of her palms. Kitsune fell to the floor. "So pretty," she said in a manic state.

* * *

_**Black Waltz**__**: **_Hello people, sorry I took so long. Before you start pointing fingers at me, let me say that the reason I've been slow at updating is because my online classes are draining me out and having so much to do every day. I'll let you know when I put up the next chapter, keep your eyes open!


	6. Chapter 6

Most people knew Keitaro Urashima as a man with a good heart and didn't have a mean bone in his body. A lot of people could see that, even his tenants and Aunt and Grandmother but when he was proclaimed to be dead, when officers came in with the charred remains of his glasses, they were in a state of shock. Soon after the cops brought in the girls for questioning and put tracers on some of them to keep tabs, gossip spread around the city like wildfire about his death. Everybody was talking about how he died while his parents and sister were still in shock about it.

Tokyo U was a place that wouldn't stop talking about either. His teachers and friends saw him as a good man, a bit flawed but a good man nonetheless. Haitani and Shirai were shook up about seeing as they remembered all the times they had together and they wanted to say they were sorry for making his life a living hell but that was too late.

They scoffed at the idea of him wanting to be friends with them… why would he? What kind of person like him would want them as friends when they do nothing in return? They never tried to help him out when Motoko first met him with her fan base, or when they strung him up in that turtle suit back in Koalla's room and didn't let him go.

What kind of people were they to him… Nothing!

Shirai continued to stare at his glass while Haitani didn't know whether to say something or just let him wallow. Of course he was still in shock about what happened to his friend. "Still thinking about him?" he asked.

"Aren't you?"

"Hell yes! Don't you think we should have been a little more considerate of his feelings?"

Shirai chuckled, "With that coming from you it's hard to believe."

"I'm serious, man!"

"Yeah, right, all you ever wanted was for him to be with Naru and nobody else. I shouldn't be the one to talk, I was the same way."

There was a moment of silence before they spoke again. "You think if that didn't happen to him, would you have been a better person to him?"

"Always," said Haitani. "But what else can we do? Beating ourselves up isn't going to do us any good."

Shirai shook his head, "It won't but I know some people who are always going to beat themselves up for this."

"I'm right there with you."

Both guys continued to drink their drinks at the bar but couldn't help but remember the good times the three of them had when Keitaro would join them for one and they would joke about everything they went through and trying to get girls. When he was alive they never considered about his feelings or how they were treating him, but since they heard the news about what happened, reality hit them like a ton of bricks and here they were, at the said bar where they would always come and drink.

The bartender looked at them and said, "I take it you boys took it hard?"

"Don't remind us," Haitani said, "that's why we're here."

"Hey no offense, I was just trying to make you feel better."

"Well give me another strong one, that'll make me feel better."

"Sure thing partner," he said, feeling his glass with more booze, knowing that he only had about two or three, but Shirai was only getting started and wanted to drown his misery and pity as much as possible so he could never remember how he used to treat his friend.

* * *

Heavy despair hung over Hinata Sou, everybody was having one emotional train wreck after another; they didn't feel like the way they used to be. At dinner, they hardly ate and just looked at the picture placed on the spot where somebody usually sat to eat with them and tried to pretend he was still alive—it hurt them too much to know they caused his death.

The plate of food in front of the picture frame was losing its warmth but the girls didn't take notice of it; they didn't care about it, all they cared about was that Keitaro was going to eat.

"Keitaro, please eat," said Motoko, who usually used his last name like usual.

Nothing came from the picture as if it was going to say something to them but soon Koalla held up a bit of food. After hearing about what happened to him, she gave up being a kid from now on, saying it was time to live in the future. Everything about her had changed—her persona, her looks, even her room. She renovated her room; removed the trees and shrub so the jungle look would be gone and replaced with something that was more appropriate for the way a room should look.

She decided on what she loved—computers and electronics. When the new equipment was brought in she delved deep into her room and only came out eat, bath and go to school. She told others that she was working on something to get to where she wanted. They, however, were amazed by the large intellect she displayed; it was almost like when she got out of being confined to her child form, her true self came free.

"Stop this, this is stupid and pointless… he's gone and there isn't anything we can do," Su said, just poking at her food.

"Don't you think we already know that Su?" Kitsune said, rubbing her bandaged hand. Ever since she was cutting herself from the nightmares she was having, her friends tried to get her to not torture herself about but she just laughed at this, saying they were hypocrites because they were the ones who tortured him until he died.

"Coming from someone who always swindled him out of money to get drunk and sleep with men, that's hard to believe… Keitaro was right about you from the start…filthy whore."

"What about you? All you ever did to him was use him like an experimental rat and try and crack him open like an egg, and even when you didn't do experiments on him you would be bouncing around the place like a fucking monkey high on crack."

Su slammed her tiny fists onto the table and got up; it was rare that she ever showed any sort of anger around the others but ever since her big brother was killed, she wasn't going to take anybody's insults, even if they were from her friends. "I've had to take everything from my family when I lived in that country, they always wanted me to grow up, but I didn't want to. So Lamba sends me away to learn how to grow up but since I met Keitaro, I didn't want to. But now that he's gone, that whole family of mine will be happy as a clam that this 'crack monkey' decided to finally grow up."

"I'm sure they would but with the way you always acted Su, they'll think you'll go back to the way everything used to be."

Su's anger was reaching her boiling point. She had wanted Shinobu to say something to her like it used to be but since Keitaro's death, the petite chef packed up her things and left the apartments, saying there were too many bad memories for her and living with her parents, maybe things will be better. Losing another was hard enough to make Su lose it and make another Mecha-Tama and use it to shut up the booze-guzzling slut.

Just looking at her made the mad scientist sick and wanted nothing more to burn her body and feed it to the crocodiles as a snack. Looking down at her food she shoved it off the table, spilling it and walked away not bothering to clean it up. Fucking whore, she thought to herself. Inside her room she slammed and locked the door and continued working on her project.

Back in the dining, Kitsune wanted nothing better than to wring Kaolla's neck but she held it back when Motoko looked at her. "I know how you feel but that's not going to change anything."

"Really?" she said sarcastically, "And you think that what you did with that oversized butter knife wasn't any different than what she did?"

"I know what I did wrong, okay! I saw my sister in my dreams and she told me everything I did and was ashamed of what I did to an innocent man." By this time now Motoko's voice was straining with tears as she choked the words out as hiccups. "Keitaro was a good man to me and I was too stupid in the head. I should've been sent to school for girls with no brains because that's what I don't have…a brain!"

"Motoko, you're taking this too hard…" Naru said trying to reason with her.

"Shut up! Why aren't you going to say something about what you always did to him? He was always after your love and you just crushed his heart!"

Naru said nothing as Motoko continued to assault her with all the wrong things she did to the person who gave her his heart—she wasn't listening. Her mind was somewhere else; she could see everything they could have had together. Why wouldn't she let her hate for men go, why was it so hard?

"I was scared."

"Scared of what? Were you scared he would go for someone else? If he had gone for someone else then his life would have been a lot better than the one you always gave him! But my guess would be if he tried to get into another relationship with a woman, you would cave his skull and then break his arms. That's all you are, Naru, nothing more, nothing less!

Feeling tears in her eyes Naru ran away and went to her room like Kaolla and locked the door. Inside she just cried her eyes out while holding onto her Liddo-kun doll.

For each of the remaining tenants this was their daily life. They would argue constantly about whose fault it was that their manager was gone and they would point fingers at each other. Sometimes at night they would pray that if he was brought back, they would be better friends around him and treat him kindly. Of course this was reality and they were facing the consequences of their actions. Motoko still couldn't sleep at night because the nightmares she had of her sister had plagued her worse each night.

She began to chuckle. "Look at me, I'm nothing and always was. I'm no swordswoman; I'm not even a feminine woman."

She looked at herself again in the mirror and kept looking—it looked back at her, the same eyes and face of her sister. "You despise me, too, sister. I'm sure you do as well as my whole family… it's okay, I like it now. Hate me now, I like that you don't like."

Her body fell limp as she began to whisper things to herself, seeing the people of her family frown upon her and shame her for everything she did to a man who was willing to sacrifice his life for her and then some.

Everything in Hinata Sou was falling apart and Keitaro was the only one to keep it together but since that explosion, reality set in for the girls. Somewhere else somebody was cutting out clippings of newspaper and keeping them. They flipped through the headlines and touched them as they remembered who had died.

**FIRE ERUPTS FROM MIOJI CHEMICAL PLANT**

Dozens of articles filled the scrapbook as they remembered what happened. Things were still there for the person, the voice knew. The voice told them he didn't want them to suffer, other people needed to feel pain, they needed to know punishment. If they continued living they wouldn't have been punished for the things they did.

Cutting out another article related to the fire, the person cut it and pasted it into the book for memory.

Sanity was broken at Hinata Sou and things weren't getting any better. Even when Seta dropped off Sarah, he never wore his usual smile—Keitaro had been that smile and since his death, archeology had lost a lot of its blight; even Sara was still beating herself up for what she did; if he had been saved from that plant before it blew up she would've treated him better than them, almost like a little sister.

Again was another day where he had to drop her off while he went off on another trip. Looking at his adopted child, he said, "Sara, are you going to be okay?"

Not looking at him, she said, "I'm sorry." Ever since his death, Sara had told him everything that she had done to him, even at first he didn't believe it, and he was angry at the whole thing. He should've been… that was his favorite part-timer. Sarah told him the reason why she did those things was because he was trying to take her papa away from him; discipline came to his mind and he finally acted like a real father and scolded her rather loudly until she was in tears of the whole thing.

After two weeks he started to treat her better but he still had that will of a strong father and knew he couldn't hold a grudge against Sara. "I know… I still can't believe you would do that!"

"I know, I made a mistake for it and look what happens! Papa, I know he's gone but I still want to say I'm sorry for it. What else do you want?"

"I want you to behave and do what Haruka tells you… and stay away from those girls, Sarah, I mean it. Understand?"

"Yes."

Both of them hugged as he left her in Haruka's hands and she and him exchanged a few words as he came in for a drink before leaving. "Going away, again?" she asked, cigarette in her mouth.

"It looks like it. I might be gone longer than expected." He then looked at her seriously. "I know what those girls did to him when he was alive, I don't want Sarah around them."

She chuckled, "Don't worry about that. The girls are all in their own nightmares about what happened. Even Shinobu left the apartments."

"Shinobu… why?"

"All she said was she didn't want to be in a place with bad memories. Last time I remembered when I went to visit her, her mom and dad said she wouldn't come out of her room. Whenever they went in she was in a corner holding a picture of my nephew and snapped at anybody who tried to take it away."

"That sounds extreme."

"It gets worse. When they did take it away she got violent with them and bit off her father's hand, tearing his skin and flesh off and nearly gorged his eye out so they had to call the institution to come and take her away."

That got Seta even more worried, Sarah too. "Will she be okay?"

"I don't know." She took a puff of her cigarette and exhaled while Seta took a last drink of her tea and left Sarah alone with the older Urashima. When he was out of sight Haruka looked at the kid and sighed. "Might as well get comfortable. Come on, I'll take you to the room you'll be staying in."

"Thanks Haruka."

She got down to Sarah's level and glared; the blond was shaking, scared of what she would do to her. "Just remember, you're not innocent either."

* * *

_**Author**__**: **_And there you have it, another one for you. I just wanted to let you guys know that this story (or any other story) isn't dead. I've been slacking off but reading a lot of books as well as watching movies. And since it's October, AMC Fear Fest will be going on all through this month. Expect my other chapter soon.

Until next time.


End file.
